Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
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Thursday, May 1, 2008
Here’s what the consultant said about Dayton
Linda Recio
Linda Recio, a consultant with the Florida-based firm Evergreen Solutions, presented her findings from a four-month study of Dayton Public Schools Thursday morning to a group of school, business and community leaders who make up a committee that is reviewing the district’s operations.
Recio was asked to report on how efficiently the district is managed and recommend possible improvements. She started with a long list of commendations for district management and said it was clear to her that the district had made major improvements since 2002. Then she went though a list of suggestions for how the district could improve.
In other cities, Recio has provided an approximate dollar figure for how much could be saved if the district enacted all the recommendations. She did not do that here. Committee chairman Tom Breitenbach asked Percy Mack to prepare an action plan for the distirct to make changes based on Recio’s report.
As best I could, I compiled a summary of Recio’s commendations and suggested changes. I tried to get everything so blog readers could get a full picture of what she highlighted. This is long, but those who want to see all the details can check it out after the jump:
Commendations
These are areas that Recio reviewed and found positives about the district:
—Superintendent Percy Mack is respected in the community.
In surveys, 97 percent of administrators, 100 percent of principals and 60 percent of teachers said they thought Mack was a strong administrator and instructive leader.
Recio said a 100 percent rating from principals was very rare. Afterward I asked teachers union President Pat Lynch about the comparatively low rating from teachers. She related it to tough working conditions for teachers this year, following $30 million in cuts, and said teachers likely would have rated Mack higher before the cuts.
—The district is not heavy with administrators.
Recio said Dayton had a higher ratio of students to administrators (200 to 1) than its peer group (168 to 1) or the state average (155 to 1). She said this figure came from last year’s numbers, prior to the budget cuts which eliminated some administrative jobs. Today the district’s ratio is probably higher, she said.
The study also suggests central office administrators spend more time in schools than in typical districts. Recio said that finding was based on survey responses from principals.
—The public information office is effective.
The report states that the district understands marketing, responds well to stakeholders and has effective truancy and count week public awareness campaigns.
—Education Services have greatly improved.
The report cites the district’s shift from 47 percent of its spending on instruction to 60 percent over five years. Recio said there is a process for examining low performing schools and a comprehensive approach to curriculum that involves teachers. She said the district is seeking to become more data driven and has good options like distance learning.
Program options like Montessori schools, arts schools, the Marshall High School academic magnet program and the Dayton Early College Academy were praised in the report.
—Financial services are generally strong.
Recio cited the district’s efficient process for budget cuts and clean audit in 2007 along with an award for financial excellent Dayton received.
—Human Resources has good recruitment materials.
The report said Dayton’s recruitment packet and employee handbook are high quality and a training program for aspiring administrators is strong.
—Facilities are well cared for.
The district has a facilities strategic plan, no portable classrooms and showed no evidence of deferred maintenance on schools, the report states. For construction, Dayton uses cost-saving prototypes for new schools and has a very low percentage of change orders on its projects (2 percent, compared to a national average of 3 percent).
Recio said the district integrates parks, recreation and community centers into its operations and uses a state of the art energy management program that saves money.
—High school busing was maintained despite cuts.
Recio praised a partnership with the city, county and RTA to keep high school busing this year, but warned that it would be hard to sustain. She also praised camera security systems on new buses.
—Safety and security shows some strengths.
The report cites the fact that no city school has ever been listed as “persistently dangerous” under No Child Left Behind for repeated violent incidents. It also cited good emergency procedures, alarms and perimeter security at schools.
—Food and nutrition serves many kids effectively.
About 60 percent of Dayton kids eat breakfast at school and 84 percent eat school lunches. Lunches are scheduled appropriately in the school day, Recio said.
—Administration technology is connected well to education technology.
The report praises Cincinnati Bell, the district’s computer contractor, for its services and flexibility.
Areas for improvement
The report cited these areas where the district needs to improve:
—Transportation is a high cost.
Dayton spends 6.9 percent of its funds on transportation, while the average district spends 5.3 percent. Bus utilization (number of seats occupied) ranges from 70 to 85 percent nationally, but for Dayton the rate is 58 percent with an average of 46 kids per bus. This is the lowest among the district’s peer group.
Dayton transports 3,800 charter school students, 1,350 private school students and about 10,000 of its own kids each day. The cost for private and charter school busing is $5 million annually. The median cost per student for busing at the district is $1,377 per student per year compared to the peer district average of $770 and the state average of $587.
Recio said the district should consider dropping high school transportation, which is not required by law, to save $1.2 million if money remains tight going forward. She said the district has too many bus stops based on parent requests rather than route efficiency, costing money. And about 449 students who live less than a mile from school rode a bus compared with 147 in the next closest peer school district (Canton). Dayton has a ratio of 2.16 buses per 100 students, well beyond the national ratio of 1.0 to 1.3 in urban areas.
District spending on overtime was $376,000 total with $232,000 coming in transportation, although Recio noted some improvements have been made. She said union contract rule changes might help reduce these costs.
About 30 buses, or 15 percent of the fleet, needs immediate replacement and Dayton should be replacing 15 to 17 buses per year. The district needs better management for the fleet.
Recio cited driver absences as a major problem, causing bus delays and missed routes and prompting complaints from teachers and principals. She also noted turnover in the job of transportation director. The district should explore outsourcing busing, she said.
—Food Services need better monitoring.
Data tracking is an issue for food service, the report states. The district does not track “meals per labor hour,” a common statistic used for comparison purposes. The food service division in November ran a negative balance of $1.5 million even though it is supposed to pay for itself through meal revenue.
The report said the district is not consistently applying fees and costs for after hours food service and catering at school and community events. Food Services also did not have a comprehensive staff allocation plan or a strategic plan aligned to the district’s goals. Comprehensive, written procedures also were not apparent.
—Finance practices could be tightened up.
The report cited a lack of documents tying instructional planning to the annual budget, but allowed this may have been caused by the deep budget cuts. The district does not post financial information in a timely or useful way on its Web site and overtime costs of $750,000 could be reduced if union rules were changed. The report also noted Dayton pays its vendors twice a week rather than every other week.
Recio said Dayton lacks some written procedures for accounting and does not consistently seek grant money to cover all costs that they could cover. Also, cash projections were not always based on current bank reconciliations, which could skew the numbers. Annual inventories of district property are not always done.
The report also noted the district showed a cash deficit last November as a result of a timing issue but should take steps to make sure the balance never shows a negative. Documentation was lacking on workers compensation and procurement was decentralized, leading to individual school orders for materials and supplies that should be ordered districtwide.
The district disaster plan needs to be better communicated and the procedures manual has not been updated since 2000.
—Facilities could be managed more efficiently
With school construction and other changes, the district must study how it uses space to be sure it is done efficiently, the report states.
Dayton has two warehouses, which is inefficient when just-in-time suppliers are available. Union rules on snow removal result in two groups of employees — custodians and grounds workers — having different responsibilities for shoveling at each school.
After hours use of school building is not handled consistently, resulting in some groups not paying the required fees. The school board should seek flexibility in seniority and overtime rules in future labor contract negotiations.
—Education services have improved but more changes could help.
Recio said instruction has improved significantly since 2002 and cuts last year left little maneuvering room going forward. But she said the central office could be better aligned to the schools for accountability.
Use of data by schools is not universal and appears optional. There also is inconsistent monitoring and reinforcement of professional development, although the report praised training programs as high quality.
Dayton has a high percentage of special education students, causing Recio to question whether kids were over-identified for the programs. The progam also has just 10 percent of kids in regular classes through inclusion, which should be the goal for all kids.
Pre-school needs coordination. Four pre-school programs currently have separate curriculum and evaluation. More effort needs to be made to link program evaluations and decisions about classroom instruction. The report also states there is no explicit plan for delegating resources to low performing schools.
The district lacks comprehensive training for new administrators and veterans, despite a good program for aspiring administrators. The district also does not have an active teacher recruitment plan or data on employee retention.
Recio urged the district to explore pay-for-performance plans for teachers, principals and administrators and said some assistant principals should be reduced to 10 or 11 month contracts to save money.
(Image credit: Allegeny, Va., schools)
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Mack: Columbia job enticing, close to home
The skyline in Columbia, S.C.
City school Superintendent Percy Mack is a one of three finalists to lead the school system in Columbia, S.C.
This is the second time in seven months that Mack has been considered for a job elsewhere. In September he interviewed for superintendent in Mobile, Ala., but the school board there chose a different candidate.
Mack said the circumstances this time were much the same as with Mobile. He said he was not looking for a job but was contacted by a recruiter and decided to apply because Columbia was a quality urban school district close to his native Georgia.
Columbia, with 23,000 students and 50 schools, is larger than Dayton’s 16,000 enrollment for 31 schools, but Mack said the two systems were alike in many ways.
“The community there has done some things, kind of like what we are doing here,” he said. “They are working on a lot of things to provide support for the district from the leaders in the community. It’s almost a mirror of Dayton, but closer to home.”
Mack, 57, is a native of Savannah, Ga. and worked in suburban Atlanta before coming to Dayton in 2001. His three adult children and their families all live in Georgia.
“As I have come to know Dr. Mack, one thing I appreciate about him is he is a family man,” school board President Yvonne Isaacs said. “He loves his kids and grandkids and he frequently tries to get home to participate in their activities. The only thing that would cause him to look at leaving — and I believe this to be true — is something that would get him closer to his family.”
Mack was promoted to the top job here in 2002 when Jerrie Bascome McGill retired. Coincidentally, a consultant’s report issued Thursday largely praised the district’s improvements in management and student achievement in Mack’s tenure while recommending better practices in areas like busing, food service, finance and facilities use.
Mack will interview in Columbia on Tuesday. He makes about $140,000 annually in Dayton. School officials in Columbia have set the salary range for that job at $195,000 to $230,000.
(Image credit: Mike Muench)
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Percy Mack a finalist in Columbia, S.C.
Percy Mack
The State newspaper in Columbia, S.C., is reporting the Dayton school Superintendent Percy Mack is one of three finalists to become superintendent there.
Mack was a finalist for superintendent in Mobile, Ala., in September but the board ultimately picked a different candidate. At the time, Mack said he was interested in the job because it was a large urban district close to his native state of Georgia. But he has consistently said since that time that he was not looking for another job.
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Report cites busing, food service for cost savings
A consultant hired by a group of school, business and community leaders to evaluate Dayton Public Schools gave her intial report today after three months of study.
Overall, the report was complimentary in many ways, and conlsultant Linda Recio praised the school district for significant improvements in its business and educational practices since 2002.
One Recio’s goals was to identify potential costs savings. She did not come back with a dollar figure for what might be saved if her recommendations were put in place, but she identified potential savings in busing, food services, facilities use and finance.
By far the biggest poteinal savings is in the area of busing.
I will post a more complete list of the recommendations later this afternoon. But in short, Recio said the disrict’s busing system is inefficient and costly. The two biggest bombshells were these — she said the district should consider outsourcing transportation to a private company and permanently cutting high school busing if financial conditions do not improve.
She said the transportation department is too responsive to parent concerns, re-routing buses based on requests and complaints and allowing kids who live short distances from schools to ride buses at rate far beyond any comparable district. The report also cites driver absenteeism, high overtime costs, frequently late buses and too few kids riding too many buses.
Meanwhile, this may be a surprise to some readers. Recio said the district was not top heavy with administrators, citing comparisons with other districts that showed Dayton spending less on administrators and having fewer of them. The report even states that Dayton administrators are more frequently in schools than other districts.
Check back here later for more details on the recommendations.
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